WASHINGTON – China yesterday formally protested that it “strongly opposed” President Bush’s plans to sell a robust package of arms to Taiwan – but Bush told the Chinese they’d better get used to it.

“The Chinese must understand that we’ve got common interests, but there’s going to be some areas where we disagree,” Bush told the Washington Post yesterday, citing arms for Taiwan as an example.

The back-and-forth came a day after Bush revealed he’s ready to sell a stronger package of arms to Taiwan than ex-President Clinton during his eight years in office – though not, at least for now, sophisticated Aegis radars.

Bush, who still plans a visit to China in the fall, also went out of his way to say he was “distressed” by China’s detention of a leader of the underground Catholic Church there.